Macao's forex reserves down 2 pct in March

The preliminary estimate of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s foreign exchange reserves amounted to 129.9 billion patacas (16.25 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of March 2013, according to the figures released on Monday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The reserves for March fell by 2 percent over the revised value of 132.6 billion patacas (16.6 billion U.S. dollars) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased 0.9 percent, the figures indicated.

Macao's foreign exchange reserves at the end of February 2013 represented 16 times the currency in circulation at the end of March.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, rose by 0.89 points month-to-month and 1.22 points year-on-year to 98.25 in March 2013.